It's often said that the best organization and filing systems are the ones you use. If you need help figuring out what to do with an avalanche of paper scraps and jotted notes, then here's a simple solution.

Office productivity blog Work Awesome says a decluttered desk is key to getting your work done, so finding a filing system that you'll keep up is really important. For some workers, the more steps a system has, the more likely they are to ditch it and let papers pile up in an overflowing inbox.

One solution is to keep a very simple system going—one that doesn't rely on micro-managing every last slip of paper. In fact, if you've got a perfectly readable napkin with a sketch of your Next Big Idea, file the napkin itself rather than figuring out how to transfer the info into yet another data management system.

I'm serious about filing the napkin. If the options are firing up Photoshop to redraw the sketch into something "worthy" of filing, leaving it on the desk, or putting it away for quick retrieval when it's actually needed (but not before), I'd always choose the latter. Sometimes it's faster to put a single business card in its own folder and file it than to enter the contact information into Outlook, especially for short-term contacts that don't need to go in a permanent record.

Hit up the post for more suggestions on creating a filing system you'll actually use—including why hanging folders aren't always all they're cracked up to be. Of course, if you have a method that's been working for you, there's no reason to change. Check out our previous tips for getting—and keeping—your current filing system under control.